James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using control programming versus the built-in automation of products. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Dan Ferrisi, Group Editor, Commercial and Security with Emerald, to discuss his question about the impact of AI in the AV programming world, and how AV programmers and other professionals can leverage AI to benefit their organizations and clients. Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrator.com, and Securitysales.com. He encourages you to attend the Total Tech Summit (https://totaltechsummit.com) in Orlando, FL, November 10-12, 2025. Be sure to also check out Dan's previous appearances in episodes 236, 212, 213, 200, 199, 182, 181, 173, 174, 124, and 125. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Dan Ferrisi, Group Editor, Commercial and Security with Emerald, to discuss his question about the similarities and differences between programmer roles within various organizations: external integrators, internal integrators, independent programming companies, and manufacturers. Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrator.com, and Securitysales.com. He encourages you to attend the Total Tech Summit (https://totaltechsummit.com) in Orlando, FL, November 10-12, 2025. Be sure to also check out Dan's previous appearances in episodes 212, 213, 200, 199, 182, 181, 173, 174, 124, and 125. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Jason Martinez, Q-SYS Ecosystem Developer, to discuss what goes into building a successful plugin for the Q-SYS ecosystem and how to ensure it meets quality requirements and is trusted by programmers. Jason Martinez can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-martinez-597660219/, via email jason.martinez@qsc.com, and on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Jason Martinez, Q-SYS Ecosystem Developer, to share his AV journey, transition from residential to commercial AV, and his self-taught mindset. Jason Martinez can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-martinez-597660219/, via email jason.martinez@qsc.com, and on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Patrick Gilligan, Principal A/V Infrastructure Engineer at Zillow Group, to discuss how his IT and software engineering approach to AV programming allows him to provide a deeper level of control in his solutions. Patrick can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@patrickgil_dev, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-gilligan-72583617/, or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Patrick Gilligan, Principal A/V Infrastructure Engineer at Zillow Group, to discuss his AV journey and his approach to learning programming. Patrick can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@patrickgil_dev, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-gilligan-72583617/, or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss how to be effective in delivering technical support to different audiences. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss how technical experts interact with users and how technology has caused the average person to become less technically literate. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Jeff Perkins, Q-SYS Control Curriculum Developer and Trainer, to share his perspective on how varied training paths are the best way to serve AV programmers, designers, and software developers. Jeff Perkins previously appeared on episode 228 of Ask The Programmer. Jeff Perkins can be found on X/Twitter at perkins_jeff, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-perkins-cts-d-59659674/, and via email jeff.perkins@qsc.com. Here are links to the resources Jeff mentioned: Control Quick Starts: https://training.qsc.com/course/view.php?id=178 Q-SYS Communities for Developers: https://developers.qsc.com/s/ QSC Training: https://training.qsc.com/qsys.php To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome guest Jeff Perkins, Q-SYS Control Curriculum Developer and Trainer, to share his AV journey and discuss his programmer-centric approach to training, as he has been in the shoes of a programmer for many years. Jeff Perkins can be found on X/Twitter at perkins_jeff, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-perkins-cts-d-59659674/, and via email jeff.perkins@qsc.com. Here are links to the resources Jeff mentioned: Control Quick Starts: https://training.qsc.com/course/view.php?id=178 Q-SYS Communities for Developers: https://developers.qsc.com/s/ QSC Training: https://training.qsc.com/qsys.php To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Leon Prather, an industry veteran and co-host of the brAVe Skills podcast, to discuss the importance of soft skills and how to work and interact with people. Leon was previously on episode 226 of Ask The Programmer. Leon Prather can be found at his website, leonprather.com, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/leon-prather-cts/, or on the brAVe Skills podcast at higheredav.com. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome guest Leon Prather, an industry veteran and co-host of the brAVe Skills podcast, to share his AV journey and discuss what is simple. Leon Prather can be found at his website, leonprather.com, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/leon-prather-cts/, or on the brAVe Skills podcast at higheredav.com. Leaon's article What is 'simple', anyway? can be found at https://www.leonprather.com/blog-2-1/what-is-simple. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss what we wish more people understood about AV programming. Here are some ideas that were discussed and debated: - Saying one system is just like the other except for a few things is does not mean it is easy to program - Programming involves much more than writing code - Scope creep and ongoing changes ead to unexpected problems - Programming is not as easy as good programmers make it look - Not all control platforms are equal – Just because you can master one, doesn’t mean you can master them all What do you think? To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss our thoughts on the toughest part of being an AV programmer. Here were some ideas that were discussed and debated: - Dealing with vague or changing requirements - Getting blamed for things that aren’t code issues - Not being included in the design process - Explaining complex systems to non-technical clients - Helping everyone else do their job so that programming can be verified What are your thoughts? To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mike Krejci, Director of Programming for CTI, to discuss the importance of version control and source control for AV programming. Mike's previous episodes are 222, 111, 34, and 35. Here are some resources that Mike mentioned in the episode: https://git-scm.com https://github.com https://bitbucket.org Mike can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikekrejci/, and CTI can be found at cti.com. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mike Krejci, Director of Programming for CTI, to discuss using C# as a programming language in AV. This episode was inspired by a request from  ⁨@jamesbond-lb7se⁩ from YouTube. Mike's previous episodes are 111, 34, and 35. Here are some of the resources Mike references for learning and leveraging C#: https://www.youtube.com/@nickchapsas https://www.youtube.com/@IAmTimCorey https://coddy.tech/explore/tag/csharp Mike can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikekrejci/, and CTI can be found at cti.com. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss a question from the mailbag about the best way to debug a system when it works "most of the time." What tips can you share for other community members? What are some of your memorable stories? To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt answer a question from the mailbag about the importance of getting certified and, if so, which certifications matter. This episode is recorded after InfoComm25. Which certifications do you have that provide you value? What are some of your goals for certifications? To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Chi Hang Lo, Manager of AV/IT Solutions at UCLA, to discuss his insight and tips for modern AV software development, including the use of containers, "no touch" or turnkey solutions, maintenance and support considerations, scalability, and what's next. Chi Hang Lo can be reached via email at chihanglo@it.ucla.edu or on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chihanglo/. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on X/Twitter or Bluesky and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer. The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.